JERUSALEM, May 28 (UPI) -- The Israeli military responded to rockets fired from Lebanon Sunday with airstrikes on two militant strongholds in Lebanon.
The military also exchanged artillery fire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said the shooting began when a militant group in Lebanon fired several Katyusha rockets into northern Israel around 4 a.m. Sunday. One hit an Israeli military base several miles inside the Israeli border near the town of Safed.
The clashes appeared to be one of the more intense encounters since Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon six years ago, the Times reported.
"Let there be no doubt that we will deal a very painful blow to whoever tries to disrupt life along our northern border," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Israeli television.
Officials in Lebanon said one Palestinian militant was killed and five were injured. Israel said two of its soldiers were injured.
